“The First Thanksgiving”

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The first Thanksgiving was the Plymouth Colony’s harvest celebration, held in the 17th century. There is not much information known about the first Thanksgiving, so there are many myths surrounding it.

Even though many things are unknown about the first Thanksgiving, some information is known. The Wampanoag Indians attended this dinner with the pilgrims. These Native Americans were key to the survival of the colonists since they had been living on the land for thousands of years. The pilgrims finally harvested their first crops in 1621, and at least 140 people showed up to eat and play games. This celebration lasted for three days which is clearly different to the one-day Thanksgiving today. They also dined on venison and fish instead of the very popular choice of turkey for Americans now. The craziest misconception of the first Thanksgiving is that it was not actually called Thanksgiving. It was also not repeated until some years after. This could be attributed to the fact that the peace was not kept between the Native Americans and the colonists because thousands more settlers came to the New World.

There are many myths associated with the first Thanksgiving since there was no good records kept. The first myth is that the first Thanksgiving was a religious occasion. This is untrue because it was known as a three-day festival that included drinking, gambling, and even target shooting with English muskets. The next myth is that it took place in November. It actually took place between late September and mid-October. Another myth is that the settlers were called pilgrims. They did not refer to themselves as pilgrims. They went by the name of Saints. There is also a myth about what the pilgrims wore in the 17th century. People today think that they wore black, had buckles on their hats and shoes, and didn’t wear tall hats. The pilgrims did just the opposite. They did not wear black, did not have buckles on their hats and shoes, and they did wear tall hats. Modern art has portrayed them differently. The pilgrims also did not eat turkey. They mostly ate deer but went out to hunt for birds. If they did happen to eat turkey, it was not as much as modern day.

Many myths about the first Thanksgiving are due to people assuming that what happens in modern day also happened in the 17th century. Even though there are very few known facts about the first Thanksgiving it is nothing like the modern-day Thanksgiving.